Assignment Details Entrepreneurial Finance – FIN-6055 – DUB1 Description
- Objective The objective of this assignment is to analyze how venture capital operates within a specific country using real data.
You will use PitchBook to examine how startups are funded, how valuations evolve, which industries attract capital, who is investing, and the role of ESG-related investments.
The goal is to produce a clear, data-driven market insight report.
- Assignment Task Select one country (except United States) and analyze its venture funding ecosystem over the past 5 years.
Your report must be based primarily on PitchBook data and should focus on identifying patterns and explaining what they mean.
- What You Must Cover Your report should clearly address the following:
- Venture Activity by Stage and Industry How many deals are happening at each stage (Seed, Series A, Series B, etc.)? Which industries/sectors are most active? (e.g., Al, FinTech, HealthTech, etc.) Is the market more active in early-stage or later-stage funding? Are certain sectors concentrated in specific stages?
- Capital & Valuations (by Stage and Industry) How much capital is invested at each stage? What are the typical deal sizes? What are the typical valuation ranges at each stage? Do certain industries receive higher valuations or larger investments?
- Investors & Funding Journey Who are the main investors? (local VCs, international VCs, angels, etc.) Do investors change across stages? Are startups relying more on local or foreign capital? Where do companies struggle to raise the next round?
- ESG Investment How much funding is going into ESG-related startups? Which ESG sectors are most active (e.g., climate, energy, social impact)? At what stage is ESG funding most common? Is ESG a meaningful part of the market, or still limited? You must clearly define what you consider “ESG” before analyzing it.
- Key Insights Provide 3-5 clear insights based on your analysis.
Examples:
Where capital is concentrated Which sectors are attracting the highest valuations Where funding gaps exist The role of ESG in the ecosystem 6. Implications For Founders:
What does this market mean for raising capital?
For Investors:
Where are the opportunities and risks?
- Deliverables Written report: 1,500 words (+10%) Appendix (required): Tables Charts Supporting data from PitchBook Formatting & Submission Requirements Format: PDF upload
Charts, graphs, and tables are required (properly annotated)
Proper referencing in APA style (in-text and bibliography)
File must include cover page and table of contents
Font: 12 Arial or Times New Roman, 1.5 spaced.
- Expectations Your analysis must be data-driven and evidence-based You are expected to work with imperfect data and make reasonable assumptions Charts and tables should support your analysis, not replace it Descriptive summaries without interpretation will be penalized
- Quality Standard You are expected to produce a report that is:
Clear, insightful, and professional enough that you would be proud to share it with your network as a unique research report.
This should feel like a real market insight!
- Final Reminder This assignment is not about listing data.
It is about:
Identifying patterns Explaining what they mean Taking a clear position “PitchBook is the required primary data source and is not graded independently. The quality of your work will be assessed based on how effectively you use the data to generate analysis and insights.
Referencing and Citation: As part of your academic responsibilities, all submitted work must adhere to the APA 7th edition guidelines for proper referencing. Please refer to this resource Links to an external site.to verify citation and formatting rules before submitting your assignments.